Umrah Pt. 3 2020

After our 5 hour long journey we finally made it to Makkah! We arrived late that night but it was so hustle and bustle apart from the night sky you wouldn't have known it was dark out!

We stayed at one of the hotels inside the clocktower. It was a nice landmark, whenever we ventured out to explore around Makkah we would look up and head towards clocktower if we were ever lost. It also gave the current time and the azan would bellow across the city so you could hear it no matter where you were, inside or out. The hotel lobby was filled with the smell of bakhour. It smelled absoutely amazing. That view was from our hotel room, we also prayed there the most. Although we couldn't see the Kabah it was one of our favorite places to pray, not only because not many people ventured onto the rooftop but it was so serene and peaceful.

The lobby of the hotel we were staying at changed their flowers every few days. 

This was the first view of the Kabah, it was gorgeous and beautiful and oh so amazing. This is my fourth time performing Umrah but I have to say each time you lay eyes on the Kabah you can't help but feel immense joy and happiness. I appreciate it's beauty more and more each time I come to Saudi Arabia. 

 I tried to take as many pictures with Ammie and my khalas as I could! Drinking zamzam water, walking 10-20k steps a day and being able to pray before the Kabah was just magical and I felt like we were all just radiating! We had a similar schedule to the one we had in Medina, wake up, pray Fajr, eat breakfast, take a nap, pray Zuhr, explore, pray Asr, shop, pray Maghrib, explore, pray Isha, go to sleep!

I was the photographer of this trip and took quite a few pics of Ammie and her sisters but Ammie made sure to take a few of me too! I wore socks with my slippers. One tip is to definitely make sure you have socks and comfortable slippers! As much as the workers around here sweeped and mopped the floor, visitors would trash the place and leave litter (it made me so mad) but your feet would get sticky and dirty, socks kept your feet clean and warm. I brought a lot of old socks so if they got ruined I could easily toss them in the bin. 

I have an extra shawl wrapped around me because I was helping my Khala hold her purse (she would put everyones slippers in a plastic bag inside her cloth purse/bag but walking was difficult for her and carrying a heavy bag (we also put our prayer rugs in there and bottles of zamzam water) so I would carry it for her but she worried someone would steal something from there as we were performing Umrah/Tawaf so I wrapped my shawl around her bag and my purse. It also kept me warm! We tried to stick together, sometimes I'd lose Ammie or my Khalas but we would always meet back up when walking back to the hotel. 

To be able to perform Umrah three times like we did we first had to leave the area. We would take a short bus trip down to Al Taneem, Masjid E- Ayesha. It's a beautiful mosque and one home to several kitties! 

You can see just how ecstatic I am to find a cat sleeping inside the Masjid. Outside of the mosque I found even more cats and kittens hanging out. They were so cute! I wanted to take them all home.  

 While shopping around we came across this coffee shop called Jeffries! I found it hilarious because Jeffrey and his family own a donut shop. I told him he's in the coffee/breakfast business overseas too! Haha.

This is an interesting photo! The skies looked different on this day and a few hours after I took this picture a swarm of locusts appeared! They were huge hopping/flying cricket looking grasshoppers. I have to say the workers did a fabulous job of picking them up and sweeping them away. They were so big a lot of women (myself included) did not fancy them sitting on us while we prayed. 

Ammie and my Khalas have relatives in Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah so he came to pick us up and take us for some shopping and exploring. We saw camels on the side of the road! They were so cute and were in all different colors. I even saw an Albino one! My cousin told us they belong to a herder. 

 I have to say Pistachio is my favorite flavor. Pistachio ice cream, pistachio donuts, pistachio coffee, pistachio smoothies. Anything and everything in that flavor is the best! It's too bad you can't find it as common in the United States, specially not in Missouri. I also picked up different snacks from the market they were so good I should have gotten more! I feel like snacks overseas are the perfect consistency of sweet and salty. In the United States everything is so coated with sugar, fried in sugar, baked and glazed in sugar it honestly is too much. 

Insh'Allah can't wait to visit next time! 

Umrah Pt. 2 2020

We took a few day trips to visit different sites in Medina. I love visiting historic landmarks and masjids. We were able to pray inside a few of them, Ammie made sure to get an Urdu speaking tour guide so my Aunt's could understand what was being shown as well. He was very informative and we learned so much!

This is a masjid at the foot of Mt. Uhud. Hazrat Ameer E Hamza R.A. Ghazwa E Ohad

 Outside of the Masjid there were women and children selling birdseed. We bought a few bags and fed the pigeons. They were so pretty in so many different colors. 

This is Masjid Qiblatain, it was so beautiful, it's nice to see that they make the women side big enough to house all the women during prayer. I feel like in the United States, specially on Jummah (Friday's) it gets so packed that there isn't any room for women and they spill out into the shoe area, walkway, bathroom hall. I enjoy going to the masjid to pray, see the different architecture, say hello to the locals. 

There was a woman who was handing out little clippings of a flower or herb she grew in her garden. It smelled absolutely amazing. Even though I don't speak Arabic (apart from a few phrases) she recognized I wanted a little clipping too and gave me one. I was able to keep it alive for two days in my hotel room. :)

Jannat al-Baqi is the oldest and the first Islamic cemetery of Medina in the Hejazi region. It is located southeast of the Prophets Mosque, which contains the graves of some of Prophet Muhammad's family and friends. 

After a few wonderous days in Medina we headed on a 5 hour car journey to Makkah. We stopped by a rest stop for gas and came across a Tim Hortons! Hands down the best donuts ever. They had such delicious flavors such as Pistachio, Rose, Maple, Strawberry. Their coffee is also so good and Ammie got a bag for my younger sis.

The mountains were absolutely stunning, our driver said there's baboons you can sometimes see on the road but unfortunately I did not see any. I also fell asleep during the car ride.

Umrah Pt.1 2020

I wanted to start out 2020 with a great step forward and what better way to start the year than to take a trip for Umrah to Saudi Arabia. My older sister and brother-in-law were able to make this possible for me and I hope Allah (swt) accepts their prayers and forgives them. Ameen. I am so happy I was able to take this trip. 

I went to Umrah with Ammie (my mother), Naheed Khala (her older sister) and Farie Khala (her younger sister). All girl squad! Saudi Arabia recently opened up their tourist visa so now women can visit without a mahram, a father, brother, uncle or husband. I wore abaya's (jilbabs) and hijabs when I was over there. It really made me want to begin to wear it again in the States as well. :)

The first place we visited was Medina and we prayed every paper at Masjid-e-Nabwi. One of my favorite places on earth. It was such a peaceful way of life, I honestly didn't want anything from home. Everyone was on the same schedule. You would wake up for Fajr, walk to the masjid and pray. We sat outside for Fajr and watched the sunrise. It was nice and cool, you could hear the birds chirping and it was just so serene and calming.

After Fajr everyone would go and have breakfast. We would go back to our hotel and they had everything you could possibly desire. All healthy too! We would have fresh omelettes every morning, fresh in season squeezed juice, pastries, chai, potatoes, different breakfasts from around the world.

 After breakfast people would either start their day and head to work or since we were visitors we would go back to our hotel and take a nap until Zuhr time. The sun would come out in full force and they'd open the giant umbrellas to provide shade and block some of the heat.

The women's wudu area was so clean and perfect. The walls were tall enough so that men could not see over and each area/entrance was designated for women or men. The only time we would see a man wandering into the women's section was I think when they were looking for their wife. They could only look outside the masjid, men were strictly forbidden from entering the masjid on the women's side. 

The inside of Masjid-e-Nabwi was so intricate and beautiful. Each pillar also had a built in AC unit, with so many people and such tall ceilings it was surprisingly cool on the inside. After each prayer there were women that would vacuum the carpets and pick up any litter left behind. Ammie and I would try to help them clean as well. One thing I don't understand is how people can visit such a beautiful mosque and leave their clutter behind! 

They had zamzam water throughout the entire masjid, disposable cups and water that was cool and room temperature. They'd mop after every prayer as well so people wouldn't slip on the marble floors. After every namaz they would go through and replace the empty ones. They were so heavy and women and young girls were doing it themselves and so quickly! What a blessing to be able to clean this masjid and be able to pray namaz. 

 There were cats everywhere. One thing I will try to keep in mind for next time is to bring some cat food with me. I saw some women did have cat food and would feed the kitties, although the cleaning crew would come and toss the food right away. Feeding them away from the prayer rugs and wudu area would be best. They were so friendly and they looked fairly clean, I think they are taken care of by the locals and passerbys.